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Wednesday, 31 December 2014

WATCH: Eye Replacement Surgery Saves Fish from...Bullying

The staff over the Vancouver Aquarium have gone to amazing lengths to give a new prosthetic eye to one of their display animals, an old copper rockfish. Like many animals, rockfishes often encounter age related issues, and this particular one had developed severe cataracts in its left eye which was subsequently removed.
According to officials, when other fish spot another fish with one eye they attack and bully it because they think it is sick or weak. So, it's not simply for cosmetic reasons! Unfortunately, even with the glass eye, the fish is still at a disadvantage since it does not have perfect vision. Watch the video:

The original caption of the video reads:

"Vancouver Aquarium head veterinarian Dr. Martin Haulena, with help from Dr. Lesanna Lahner of Seattle Aquarium, affixes a prosthetic eye on a yellowtail rockfish (Sebastes flavidus) that had its eye removed due to cataracts. They performed the same surgery on a second rockfish, a copper rockfish (Sebastes caurinus), seen at the end of this video. The purpose of this procedure is partly cosmetic and partly for the fish’s welfare. Without an eye, the other fishes would act aggressively towards it for seeming sick and weak."

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